trousers

As @Lord Duckhunter says, if it really is a simple case of us sending someone up to spy, in the knowledge we were breaking the rules, can we guess why Parsons came out with the following in his statement: "We understand the discussion and speculation that has followed over recent days, but we also believe it is important that the full context is established before conclusions are drawn." If it was as clear cut a breach as people are saying it must be, then there's no "context" to establish, is there? To me, "establishing context" implies it isn't as straightforward as sending someone up there to break the rules, but I guess it might just be a case of: "well, he would say that, wouldn't he?"...?

Yep, that's what I'm leaning towards at the moment, but only if the nutjob 'conspiracy theories' are wide of the mark!

Fair enough

If it's as clear cut as @Lord Duckhunter says it is, I'm surprised it's taking them more than a couple of hours to conclude the bleedin' obvious...

If we were indeed stupid enough to send someone up there, in the knowledge that we were wilfully breaking the rules, with the possibility of being thrown out of the tournament, with relatively little to gain for such a big risk, then I hope they throw the book at us big time. If we were that thick then we deserve all we get.

Indeed...

In the original Daily Mail (yes, I know...) report, we're led to believe that the Middlesbrough staff who caught him insisted that he delete the footage off his phone, which seems a somewhat bizarre request... Surely Middlesbrough would want to preserve all evidence, not destroy it...? Again, just part of the "something's not quite adding up here" puzzle...

I would usually agree, if the "simple and most obvious" explanation wasn't just as bizarre than some of the conspiracy theories...

Agree, but wouldn't the punishment in that circumstances be significantly less than if we had willingly sent him up there with explicit instructions to spy on a training session knowing that it would be in breach of the rules?

One would like to think so 👍🏻

Yep, exactly. Imagine if one of us nutjob conspiracy theorists had come on here before 'Spygate' came to light and said: "You know what, I reckon what Tonda should do to help us win the play offs is send an analyst up to Middlesbrough's training ground within 72 hours of the game and record their training session in plain sight on his iPhone. We might get chucked out if he gets caught (which is quite likely) but it's a risk worth taking", we'd have been laughed out of town for coming up with such a ridiculous idea... Something doesn't add up, that's for sure...

I know this "whistleblower set a trap" notion is conspiracy theory territory, and that kind of thinking inevitably attracts the wrath of the forum thought police but, to me, the alternative reality - that we willing sent a junior analyst to stand in plain sight to video a training session knowing that it was breaking the 72 hour rule and knowing that it could lead to us being thrown out of the competition - seems even more bizarre than some of the 'conspiracy theories' to me.... Are we really stupid and naive enough to have done that...? If it is a simple case of us knowingly breaking the rules, at Tonda's level or above, then we deserve to be chucked out of the competition. All I'll say is that the emergence of a whistleblower that just happened to work for both clubs in recent times seems a tad convenient (from Middlesbrough's perspective) to me...

I made the fatal mistake of going out last night and it's a nightmare trying to catch up as the thread is growing quicker than I can read...! Currently on page 79.... 🙂

Will Salt face masks on every Saints seat at Wembley... Make it so!

I was just thinking that Middlesbrough have done something than no man, extra terrestrial being or supernatural force has ever been able to achieve... And that's to unite the disparate factions within Saintsweb! We've even had people agreeing with Soggy FFS... Bravo, Middlesbrough, bravo 👏🏼👏🏼 😂

Fair enough 👍🏻

Hmm, fair point, but why have the EFL charged us under both rules then if the 72 hour rule trumps the other rule?

Bree - Stephens - THB - Manning Edit: bollocks... Beaten to it! Well played chaps!

Even if he wasn't aware of the 72 hour rule, observing another team's training is still in breach of the lesser "acting in good faith" rule, hence he was always going to be acting a tad cagey....

Not a fan then?

## Interesting first post having been registered for 3 years klaxon ## P.s. source?

One theory is, we "haven't been caught before" because other clubs do it and there's been some kind of gentleman's agreement between clubs to turn a blind eye (especially outside of the 72 hour embargo period)... And that we only got "caught" this time because Gibson / Middlesbrough decided to break ranks in an attempt to unsettle us in the playoffs. As I say, just a theory....

Nah... We were told time and time again during our poor run in the first part of the season that we had a squad full of mediocre championship players, at best, that no manager on planet Earth... "Not even Pep"... Could get a tune out of...

Because there's a chance they might do 'spying' themselves too...?